May 3, 2016

Communion Homily - April 17, 2016

1
Corinthians 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered
to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took
bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat;
this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 25
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is
the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of Me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

The second blessing from the Lord that
fits the description of a Sacrament is what we call the Lord’s Supper or
Communion. The Lord’s Supper was originally given by Christ to His disciples,
the record of which is provided in the Gospel accounts. Here, in 1 Corinthians
11, Paul recounts that exact discourse as a reminder to those Christians of
what the Lord’s Supper was all about.

Obviously, as a Sacrament, the Lord’s
Supper is very important in the life of the believer. Although, it doesn’t
function exactly the same as Baptism, it is intended to provide the same gift,
namely a tangible reception of Christ’s grace and forgiveness. But Paul’s words
also show us another indication of its importance for our lives. He begins by
saying, “For I received from the Lord
that which I also delivered to you…” Paul assures the Corinthians that they
can trust what He is about to teach them because it was exactly what He
received from the Lord. Paul’s discourse on the Lord’s Supper is not merely a
matter of subjective opinion. He speaks with the authority given to Him as an
apostle of Jesus Christ.

There’s another topic in Scripture that
Paul introduced in the same way. In 1 Corinthians 15 he begins by saying, “For I delivered to you first of all that
which I also received…” The word order is different but the thought remains
the same. Paul is saying, “Pay attention
to what I am about to tell you because this comes from God and this is
important for you.” What he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 15 is about
death and resurrection of Jesus and how that is the guarantee of eternal life
for the believer.

It’s pretty neat that the Holy Spirit
would guide Paul to introduce these important areas of our faith with clues
that alert us to listen. Jesus also employed a similar device in His ministry.
When He was about to speak on something that was very important, He would
preface the phrase by saying, “Truly,
Truly, I say to you.” This was the peoples’ cue to pay critical attention
to what was about to follow.

As Paul continues in his recounting of
the Lord’s Supper, we see why he instructs the hearer to listen up. This is no
ordinary supper. The precise problem that the Corinthians was that they were
treating it normal, however. In fact, they were making a mockery of it. Just
prior Paul explains his frustration. Instead of celebrating the Lord’s Supper
as a Sacrament, in respect and devotion to God, they were treating it like any
other meal. Some were hoarding the bread for themselves, using it to satisfy
their hunger. Others were getting drunk on the wine. What was meant to be a
gift from God was quickly mirroring a pagan festival.

And so, how does Paul bring them back to
the truth? He simply reminds them of it! When Jesus first gave this holy supper
He was clear on a number of things. First, this was truly His body and His
blood with the bread and the wine. There’s no reason to believe that Jesus was
speaking figuratively; He certainly could have used different words if He
wanted to express that. Likewise, He never indicates that the bread and wine
are changed into His body and blood. He still speaks of the elements being
present. But He also goes on with things even greater.

This body and blood was given for the
disciples. Here, we see the concept of a gift. Christians do not need to fully
rationalize this Supper in their minds. It is not up to them to mine out the
treasures within, through piety or reason. They simply receive the gift, it is
given for them.

Jesus also states that it is done in His
remembrance. We do not practice the Lord’s Supper because as an actual
sacrifice for sins. The time of offering atonement sacrifices before God is
over. Why? Because the one and only true sacrifice has been given. There’s a
reason that Jesus chose to give this Sacrament when He did. It was not mere
coincidence that He did it on the eve of the Passover, and more importantly the
eve of His crucifixion. This was a sign to the disciples, and all Christians
since, that there was one moment in history where sin was paid for. Therefore,
when we celebrate this Supper, we look back to what was accomplished, just as
the Israelites looked forward through their own offerings. We are not
re-crucifying Christ’s body and blood because we need further atonement for our
sins. We are connecting our faith to the “once for all” sacrifice of Jesus on
the cross, and thereby receiving the direct Gospel from our Lord and Savior.

This meal is certainly a remembrance,
but by God’s Word and blessing it is even more. This leads us to third unique
thing that Jesus says, that we receive His
blood of the new covenant. When you hear that phrase think of one word:
forgiveness. We make this connection by understanding what the “new covenant”
is. There’s no better place to learn this than Jeremiah 31, where God allowed
His prophet to foretell of this promise:

"Behold,
the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- 32 "not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I
was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put
My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people. 34 "No more shall every man teach his
neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,`Know the LORD,' for they all shall
know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I
will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
(Jeremiah 31:31-34).

The Lord’s Supper is special not only
because it reminds us of Christ crucified for our sins, but it literally
connects with Him. We share in His body and blood today. God gives us evidence
that we can touch and taste as an assurance of His promise of forgiveness
fulfilled. There simply is nothing else like this in the entire world.

It’s interesting that early opponents of
the Christian Church condemned the Lord’s Supper as cannibalism. This is interesting
first of all because it shows us that the early Church recognized and taught
that Christ’s body and blood were present. This was their belief and
confession, so much so that their enemies tried to use it against them. Early
Christians never viewed the Lord’s Supper as simply a memorial meal with
symbolic descriptions to Christ’s body and blood. They believed they were
uniting with their Savior, just as the words of that Savior describe.

This criticism of the early Church is
also interesting, though, because it reminds us of the importance of the new
covenant. If the only things Christ said about this meal were that is was done
in remembrance and it contained His body and blood, one might naturally be
inclined to view it as cannibalism. But understanding the new covenant changes
everything. Once the forgiveness of sins enters the scene, once you connect
this act to the timeless promise of God to redeem His people, any crass way of
thinking about it simply is not tenable.

The Lord’s Supper is not ordinary. It is a meal
with great spiritual significance. We are not just partaking of our Savior’s
body and blood; we are united with Him by faith. We do not merely share bread
and wine good intentions and hopes. We receive verification that God has kept
His promise to us, not only in time past when Jesus died on the cross, but in
the present, each time we hear and believe those words of life: Given and shed for you, to forgive your
sins; to make you a member of the new covenant.

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Pastor Mark Tiefel

Pastor Mark S. Tiefel graduated from Immanuel Lutheran College and Seminary in Eau Claire, WI, in May of 2012. He previously served Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was installed at Redemption on April 12, 2015.